I have just finished watching the BBC documentary on Hillsborough, which I thought was a must see for any football fan. The start of the program included scenes from the 1981 FA cup semi final between Spurs and Wolves and the very near miss that the Spurs fans had on that day. Was anyone there that day or have any memories
Wasn't there but was listening to the match in a park near turnpike lane tube and remember the radio talking about an early pitch invasion...was linked to hooligans but then disappeared as an issue in the media when there was no trouble. I was lucky enough to go to the replay and there was chat about it then. I don't think anyone realised how dangerous it had been until 1989!
I was there with my 13 year old brother. We were slightly to the edge of the worst of the crushing having got to the ground early enough to have got into the stadium about half an hour before kick off. It was pretty crowded then but not necessarily worse than The Shelf on a really big game. However, it just got worse and worse until you could hear people shouting and crying out which I'd never heard before (or since). In other really big crowds there would be waves of movement and crushing that were then relieved. I just recall it getting worse and worse without any relief. I became separated from my brother, although I could see him there was no chance of reaching him. More and more people seemed to be feeding into the stand and if some hadn't climbed the fences and others been let out of the gates then I think there would have been deaths that day. The thing I could never understand was that the game went on throughout what was such a dangerous occurrence. Now it would stop instantly for the slightest problem. I'll never forget watching on TV in '89. Instantly, I knew what had happened as it was almost identical to '81. How '81 became the forgotten fore-runner I have never understood. The similarities are so striking that only the most corrupt and biased of individuals can have preferred establishment view that it was the fault of the Liverpool supporters in '89, rather than a repeat of the previous mistakes. I rang the BBC and LBC in the days after '89 to try and put forward the obvious (to me) view that this was a catastrophically negligent failure to learn from our experience but nobody rang me back. I never understood how the lies could withstand even the most basic of scrutiny. If you see film of the two events you know it's a repeat of the same circumstances, however, nobody in the media ever mentioned '81 as if it had never happened. I thank my lucky stars I was there for the earlier event because if it had been us there in '89 then the bodies would have been from our support, of that I have no doubt.
The programme is a clear indication of how the Establishment protects itself. 27 years of pain and grief caused by one lie. One lie which had to be protected to ensure the perpetrator escaped punishment. The country has endured a 27 year perversion of justice by the police force, the media and politicians at the heart and top of Government. It took the endurance, guts, determination and sheer will of the families and friends of The 96 to ensure the true story got to a court room and a verdict delivered. The programme covered this superbly, but was also quite shocking in showing the suffering of the victims on the terraces, the parents waiting in Liverpool for the busses to return from the match and the callous and brutal questioning by the police officers of parents who had just identified their loved ones. The brutality of injustice. The brutality of a corrupt Establishment. The brutality of grief. It was laid bare in a two hour documentary for all to see.
